Apparatus for transporting submarine torpedo-boats overland.



S. LAKE. APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING SUBMARINE TORPED BOATS OVEBLAND.

APPLICATIN FILED JUNE 14. i915.A

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

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S. LAKE.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOATS OVERLAND.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I4, I9I5.

1,21 9,647. Patented mr.' 2Q, Ism.

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APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOATS OVERLAND.

1,219,647. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I4. 1915. Patented Mar. 20

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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SIMON LAKE, OF MILFOBD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE LAKE TORPEDO BOAT COMPANY OF MAINE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING SUBMARINE TORPEDO-BOATS OVERLAND.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milford, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Trans porting Submarine TorpedoeBoats Overland, of which the following is a specication.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the over-land transportation of submarine torpedo boats, whereby to permit the transfer of this class of boats from one port or station to another in considerably less time than would be possible for the boats to proceed by sea under their own power, especially in adverse weather conditions, thus enabling a comparatively small numberof submarine torpedo boats to defend a greater number of harbors and a greater extent of coast line, than is now possible with the same number of boats.

It is an acknowledged fact that submarine torpedo boats have proven ofV the greatest advantage in warfare, and especially in keeping a blockading fleet outside of the limits of the reach of their guns, and in holding a fleet inside of its harbor. It is also well known that owing to weather conditions, submarine boats are unable totra-vel great distances without seeking shelter, and without replenishing their supplies. These conditions, necessarily consume much valuable time, and ofttimes prevent a boat from reaching the locality, at which an enemys fleet is reported, in time to intercept the fleet. Vith my apparatus, this objection is over-come, since ,by it submarine torpedo boats may be conveniently andV rapidly transferred over-land from one station to anotherin time to apprehend a hostile fleet.

To this end the invention comprises certain details of construction, combinations, and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully described land then claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, in which the several iigures of which like parts are similarly designated throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the manner of connecting a marine railway with that of the main line of aV railroad. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustrating a submarine torpedo boat mounted upon my Speccation of Letters Patent. Patgnted MQW. 2Q, 191'?. Application filed June 14, 1915.

Serial No. 34,040.

improved truck and being drawn from the marine railway. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a submarine torpedo boat mounted upon the truck standing onthe main line of the railway. Fig. 4 is a side elevation ofthe forward end of the truck. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the saine drawn on a larger scale on the irregular line the of Fig. 3, the cradle being shown in elevation with the central part thereof shown 1n section. F 6 is a plan view of the forward truck. F ig. 7 is a plan view of the forward truck with the cradle removed.

1 designates a marine railway from which is extended a branch or siding 2 connected with the main line 3 of a railroad through switches (not shown) now in common use. a designates my improved carriage comprising trucks 5, which are connected together by suitable truss frames or girders 6, as will be hereinafter again referred to.

Each truck is constructed of side frames '7v of suitable construction having pockets therein in which are mounted journal boxes 7 of standard design in which are journaled the lends of aXles 8 upon which are mounted wheels '9. These parts being of standard construction are shown only diagrammatically. The frames 6 of the trucks are connected by bolsters 10 preferably castings, having hemispherical bearings 11 to receive substantially hemispherical journals 19 formed integral with or connected to transversely arranged cradles 13, the cradles being supported at their ends, upon springs 14,V carried by the cradles 13 and having a sliding movement upon the side frames 7, and held in position upon the said frames 7 by lugs 15 cast or formed upon the frames. The springs 1li-.are connectedto the cradles 13, by means of bolts 17 as shown in Fig. 5. l'Ihe cradles 13 are connected to the truck bolsters 10 by means of king bolts 16, the upper spherical ends of which arel socketed in the cradles. Upon the lower endsl of these king bolts 16 are arranged springs 18, to allow certain play between the cradles 13 and the truck holsters 10. The hemispherical bearings 12 are provided with flared outlets 19 for the passage of the king bolts thereby to permit, and to limit, lateral swinging motion of the cradles. By the construction just described, it will be evident that the cradles 13 may move upwardly or downwardly at their ends, and thus compensate for slight uncvennesses in the railroad hed, and hence there will be avoided twisting movement upon the boat when the trucks are rounding curves or meet slightly uneven portions in a roadbed.

The cradles 13 are preferably formed with recesses 2O to lit the curvature of the boat to he transported, and the boat is preferably connected to the said cradles lf3 by means of tie-rods 2l having their upper ends threaded and inserted through cleats 22 secured upon the side of the boat, and provided with nuts 23, which are threaded upon the bolts above the said cleats. rIhe lower ends of the tierods engage lugs 2-1 proj ecting from the ends of the cradles 13 and said ends are threaded to receive locking and jam nuts 25 as shown. By this arrangement, it will he apparent that a boat may he quickly and securely fastened to the cradles.

The holsters are secured to the side frames by means of bolts 26. IIowever, I desire it understood that I do not limit myself to the employment of holsters formed of castings, as it will be understood that other constructions may be employed, and which would necessarily necessitate other means than that shown for connecting the said holsters to the frames 7.

As stated, the cradles 13 are connected by suitable truss frames or girders 6, and these frames are preferably constructed of longiA tudinal angle hars 27, which are suitably bolted to the ends of the cradles and connected together hy lattice bars 28, as shown most clearly in Fig. l. The angle hars 27 are preferably connected to the ends of the cradles 13 by bolts 29, and, in practice, the said angle bars will be made of suflicient length to permit of lengthwise adjustment of the trucks, in order to accommodate boats of different lengths. rlie-bolts 21 will he employed for locking the boat to the angle hars 27 as shown in Fig. 3.

30 designates a submarine torpedo boat of standard construction mounted upon the carriage. In practice, I. purpose constructing the boats with removable conningtowers, so as to permit the boats passing through tunnels and under bridges of standard dimensions. I do not claim in this application the details of construction of removable conning-towers, and, therefore, do not consider it necessary to illustrate this feature in detail, and consequently show the conning-tower only in dotted lines.

In order to transfer a boat from' the water to the land conveyance, a carriage l will he run down upon a marine railway so that the hoat may he floated thereon, and then securely bolted to the cradles and to the truss frames. The boat may he readily Withdrawn from the marine railway on to the siding by means of one or more locomotives 40, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In practice, the carriage Ll is connected to the locomotive by means of a cable 41, and after being drawn upon the siding, the cable is detached and the tender of the locomotive is thenconnected to the forward truck 5 by means of a f draw bar (not shown) as will he readily understood.

The trucks 5 are connected at their forward and rear ends by transverse bars or connecting plates 42, and the outer har or plate Ll2 of each truck is connected to its bolster 10 hy means of suitable draw-bar frames 43, between which is mounted the draw-hars del of couplers l5.

It will thus he seen that I provide an exceedingly simple and efficient apparatus whereby submarine torpedo heats may he quickly and conveniently transported overland from one point to another, thus not only enabling the boats to he quickly transferred and launched from a point distant from its station, but which also avoids the dangers incident to the maneuvering of the boats at sea in adverse weather conditions. It will he understood that when a boat has reached its destination, the carriage is backed down upon the marine railway and the tie-rods removed so that the boat may be floated at high tide or otherwise.

While I have shown the several details of my construction in more or less diagrammatic form, I desire it understood thatthe construction of the trucks may he of other design without departing from the broad principle of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks having holsters provided with hearings, cradles pivotally mounted upon said trucks by means of journals thereon fitted in the hearings on the holsters and having a laterally loose connection therewith by king belts thereby to permit a limited lateral swinging motion of the cradles on the trucks, longitudinal frames connected to said cradles, and means to detachably secure a boat to the cradles and frames.

2. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, holsters forming parts of said trucks and provided with hearings, cradles pivotally secured to said holsters and having hollow journals litted in the hearings and provided with flaring outlets, king-bolts connecting the hearings and journals and permitting limited lateral swinging motion of the cradles on the trucks, longitudinal frames connected to said cradles, and means to secure a boat detachahly to the cradles and frames.

3. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, holsters forming parts of said trucks and having hemisphercal hearings thereon, cradles having hemispherical journals fitted in said bearings, king bolts connecting the bearings and journals to permit pivotal movement of the cradles on the trucks, longitudinal frames connected to said cradles, and means to secure a boat to the cradles and frames.

4f. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, bolsters forming parts of said trucks and having hemispherical bearings thereon, cradles having hemispherical journals fitted in said bearings, king bolts connecting the bearings and journals to permit pivotal movement of the cradles on the trucks, springs interposed between the trucks and cradles, longitudinal viframes connected to said cradles, and means to secure a boat to the cradles and frames.

5. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, cradles pivotally mounted upon said trucks, longi tudinal frames connected to said cradles, means to change the points of application of the frames to the cradles so as to lengthen or shorten the apparatus to conform to the length of the boat, and means to secure the boat to the cradles and frames.

6. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, holsters forming parts of said trucks and provided with bearings, cradles pivotally secured to said bolsters and having hollow journals fitted in the bearings and provided with Haring outlets, king-bolts connecting the bearings and journals and permitting limited lateral swinging motion of the cradles on the trucks, springs interposed between the king-bolts and the bolsters, longitudinal frames connected to said cradles, and means to secure a boat detachably to the cradles and frames.

7. Apparatus for transporting boats overland, comprising wheeled trucks, holsters forming parts of said trucks and provided with bearings, cradles pivotally secured to said holsters and having hollow journals tted in the bearings and provided with flaring outlets, king-bolts connecting the bearings and journals and permitting limited lateral swinging motion of the cradles on the trucks, springs interposed between the king-bolts and the bolsters, springs interposed between the cradles and the trucks, longitudinal frames connected to said cradles. and means to secure a boat detachably to the cradles and frames-` In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of June, A. D. 1915.

SIMON LAKE.

Witnesses:

C. E. ADAMS, E. W. SHEA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

